SFPD: Man throws hammer at car burglar, gets arrested

A victim of San Francisco’s auto burglary crisis was arrested early Wednesday for allegedly throwing a hammer at a man he believed had broken into his car, police said.

The 55-year-old man was asleep at around 3:26 a.m. in the Lower Haight when his wife woke him up and said the window on their car was broken, according to Joseph Tomlinson, a police spokesperson. The wife saw a man kneeling next to the car at Hermann and Webster streets.

The suspected burglar, 38, took off running when the husband grabbed a hammer and chased after him, Tomlinson said. The man was allegedly pulling a recycle bin filled with stolen goods from the car.

Tomlinson said the husband then threw the hammer, which struck the man in the forearm.

When police arrived, both men were arrested.

The husband was booked on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon, while the man is being held on second-degree burglary and possession of stolen property.

The man was taken to a hospital with an injury to his forearm and is expected to survive.